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Comment by k-mcgrady | Hacker News Reader

Not all that surpising. As was made clear during the Snowden leaks the USG doesn't consider human beings who aren't US citizens to have the same rights as Americans.

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This is what I find the most troubling. I used to think the US was trying to still spread democracy worldwide but apparently internally they feel if you are foreign that means there arent any laws as to what we can and cant do.

Democracy is grown (locally), not "spread" by foreign intervention. The US didn't become a democracy itself by getting invaded. If anything, it was the opposite, it threw away the external power controlling it.

What happens when a nation's revolutionary document becomes counterrevolutionary?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

There are two opposing views of the Declaration and the Constitution.

One view considers these documents to be the expression of the inclusive rights granted to the citizenship.

The other view considers these documents to be the definition of the extents and limits of federal and state powers.

The first view currently prevails but that was not always the case. Under the second view you can not waive your right to remain silent, or waive your right to unreasonable searches. In other words, being Mirandized doesn't grant the right. It's simply informing you of what you always have.

That's something important for you to realise. The next step is to understand that the US government didn't change much lately meaning that idea you had in your mind was never true since at least the end of the second world war. Then you get to wonder how you got to believe that in the first place.

You're right maybe it was a misunderstanding and maybe its misinformation but I couldve recalled Bush saying something along these lines about Iraq. I also believe some of my grade school teachers may have put these ideas in our head. I dont not fault them for it they were just trying to paint a rosy picture of America abroad.

Just so you anyone knows, not all americans feel the same as our govt. does.

http://cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/bush.speech/index.html

Here's something that will blow your mind. EVERY country considers its own citizens to have more rights than other countries. Otherwise we wouldn't have millions of people dying every year by preventable means. And there wouldn't be widespread despisement of refugees.

Just because other countries do something deplorable, doesn't mean the United States should do it too.

Lots of countries are passive in that they don't go out of their way to help people in other countries in the ways you suggest.

The US is active in that it's actively treating citizens of other countries as second class.

It's not all US citizens. Only well-connected, wealthy US citizens have rights. The rest of the US citizens are semi-disposable like the rest of the world.

There are two Americas now; the first consists of those who perform surveillance and the second are the suspects.

While the above parent tree of comments is mostly correct, I can't help but feel like the commenters are just regurgitating sound-bite memes. I wish there were less of an echo chamber around here.

Lead and they will follow. Or post meta-commentary without helpful value.

> USG doesn't consider human beings who aren't US citizens to have the same rights as Americans.

Of course? Ask Chinese citizens about their right to free speech.

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